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On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Joseph P. McDonald manned the switchboard at Fort Shafter in Hawaii when he received the alarming message that radar had detected a large number of planes approaching from the north, heading fast for Oahu.
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Motorists who use the Pango mobile app to pay at parking meters in Scranton will get reimbursed for any inadvertent overcharges since Sept. 1, the new operator of the city’s parking system said.
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The ailing Valley View High School pool is temporarily closed. School board directors unanimously voted Wednesday to decommission the natatorium and preserve the area until funding becomes available
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TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE
Another letter writer complains that far too many motorists, particularly those in the downtown, play by their own driving rules.

Feel-good 'policy'

Editor: Will someone please tell me what "family values" are?

When is this imaginary time (the "good ol' days") to which folks seem intent on returning. The Cold War, Great Depression, Elizabethan Era, Stone Age? How about one of the world wars or the Civil War? Did people in the 1950s have more "values" than we do today? Is legalized racial segregation a "family value?"

Why have "family values" been the property of the Republican Party since 1976? Remember Dan Quayle denouncing Murphy Brown for choosing to become a single mom? Maybe we should regulate who can marry, their roles in marriage, and how people can procreate? I'm sure some party leaders from China or Cuba could show the Republicans how it's done.

My family doesn't oppose abortion, renounce same-sex marriage, restrict the marital roles of men or women, or promote complementarianism. Are we still a family if we don't hold these values?

I don't think there is anything to "traditional family values" other than one's own moral views. There has never been a magical time when the U.S. was populated by white Christian nuclear families that never had extra-marital sex or needed abortions, where mom stayed home and dad went to work, and no one was anything other than heterosexual.

"Family values" are not policy and they shouldn't be part of a political platform. The public needs to vote for real policy proposals, not empty rhetoric designed to make us feel warm and fuzzy.

MICHAEL BURNS

SCRANTON

Telling detail

Editor: Nothing like the smell of sexist reporting first thing in the morning to remind you that women are treated differently at every juncture of the criminal justice system, including initial reporting. The Local section on Sept. 28 reports a large headline, complete with photo."Woman allegedly stalked ex-lover and his family." Not so unintentionally, her place of employment is listed.

Hop across the page to This Morning and note the much smaller, albeit bold type "Man allegedly punched girlfriend." Hmmm, I wonder where he is employed. I have no clue, it was not reported.

Adding facts purely to sensationalize a story is a cheap journalistic trick, not unnoticed by keen-eyed, socially conscience readers.

If it is your intention to provide such information, do it across the board, as well as across the page.

STACY HAWKINS HAZELTON

SCRANTON

Kids first

Editor: I was disappointed to see the headline in the Sep. 26 Times-Tribune: "Safety is geared to autistic kids." To refer to children by their disability first is not only disrespectful, but may also contribute to low self- esteem among people with disabilities.

Instead the headline should have read, "Safety is geared to kids with autism."

MARY HVEZDA

CLARKS GREEN

Half a loaf

Editor: David B. Taylor (Your Opinion, Sept. 30) is absolutely wrong to blame the unions by saying they are forcing the city into bankruptcy and asking why did they battled with the city for 10 years?

In fact, the unions were willing to negotiate for 10 years. It was Mayor Chris Doherty who wouldn't negotiate. It was the mayor who lost arbitration after arbitration leading to a landmark Supreme Court decision awarding $30 million to the unions.

To prove the unions love for the city they negotiated with the city to cut the award in half to $15 million saving the taxpayers a lot of money. They didn't have to do that.

LES SPINDLER

SCRANTON

Contacts for help

Editor: I am responding to a recent letter regarding National Depression Screening Day which takes place on Oct. 11 and is run by the nonprofit for which I work, Screening for Mental Health Inc.

The letter was very supportive of the event and we are genuinely grateful for that. I wish to clarify our contact information and provide the appropriate emergency numbers so that your readers can reach out to the appropriate service. We do not provide any emergency or hotline services.

For a list of participating National Depression Screening Day sites or to take a screening online, the Web page to visit is www.Hel pYourselfHelpOthers.org.

For anyone who feels they are suffering from a potentially life-threatening problem, we encourage them to visit the nearest emergency room or call 911 to seek immediate professional help. The National Suicide Prevention Helpline is also available 24 hours a day and is free and confidential: 800-273-TALK (8255).

To contact Screening for Mental Health Inc. for more information about National Depression Screening Day or our online screenings, email us at info@MentalHealthScreening.org.

KATHERINE CRUISE

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING SCREENING FOR MENTAL HEALTH, INC.

Take off blinders

Editor: It's nice - and regrettable - to hear that I am not the only one who feels like I have to be on constant watch for clueless motorists while out and about on foot in the city of Scranton ("Real-life 'frogger'" Renee Stevens, Your Opinion, Sept. 25).

It's also equally regrettable that Scranton police seem to have absolutely no concern when it comes to enforcing the very laws they signed up to enforce. I can't tell you how often I see fellow motorists park in fire lanes, pass through red lights, turn or change lanes without signaling (in fact, seeing a turn signal in use in Scranton - at all - is practically unheard of), almost causing traffic accidents for failing to obey yield signs, barely slowing down before disregarding stop signs, leaving their car parked in traffic to visit nearby ATMs - the list goes on and on. As common as these occurrences are, spotting a police officer actually pulling someone over in Scranton is very rare. What is the point in having rules (or police, for that matter) when no one is going to enforce them? When you don't enforce the rules, people will just create their own.

Why do you think that some of the most recent unconstitutional laws in this country have yet to be repealed (The Patriot Act, Obamacare)? Simple. Because the people who are supposed to be enforcing the law are not doing their job.

ANDREW COYLE

SCRANTON

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